Area Tv Ratings A Tossup

May 31, 1986|By Bill Kelley, Television Writer

Whose local newscasts won the May ratings sweeps? Once again, it depends on which ratings service you believe.

In the Miami/Fort Lauderdale market, WPLG-Ch. 10 and WSVN-Ch. 7 subscribe to Nielsen, which says they`re in first and second place, respectively, for May. WTVJ-Ch. 4 subscribes to Arbitron, which puts WTVJ in first place -- as it routinely has.

Arbitron is rejected by Channels 10 and 7 (Miami`s ABC and NBC affiliates) because, according to management, the Arbitron sampling ``skews old`` -- inaccurately favoring older viewers who form a loyal core of Channel 4`s audience. Channel 4 is the market`s CBS affiliate.

The most interesting wrinkle in the news ratings may be their failure to correspond to national, network ratings.

Final ratings -- including figures for the West Palm Beach market -- will be released next week.

ABC, the third-place network, only delivers a small share of the prime time audience to Channel 10. So a huge number of viewers have to switch over from Channel 7 at 11 p.m. (and away from the WSVN newscast) to make WPLG`s news number one. According to Nielsen, they do.

In the local newscasts, preliminary Arbitron figures show Channel 4 anchor John Hambrick, in his third ratings period since replacing Ralph Renick, edging out Channel 10 and Channel 7`s newscasts at 6 p.m., while Channel 10 beats him at 11 p.m.

Channel 10`s 5:30 newscast narrowly beats Channel 4.

Nielsen rates Channel 7 second to Channel 10 at 11 p.m. and 6 p.m. The ratings service places Channel 4 a distant third at 11 p.m., but only a point behind Channel 7 at 6 p.m.

The market`s three independent stations -- WDZL-Ch. 39, WCIX-Ch. 6 and WBFS- Ch. 33 -- subscribe to both Nielsen and Arbitron. The services place WDZL in first place among independents.

Early figures show Channel 6 and Channel 33 nearly tied in prime time.